Denita Dowell-Reavis
The Alexander County Board of Education held its regularly scheduled meeting for April on the 13th. The meeting opened with the pledge led by Vice Chair Jesse Bowles.
Calendar Change
The board made a minor adjustment to the 2026-27 academic calendar for the district. November 25, the day before Thanksgiving will now be an Optional Work Day instead of an Annual Leave Day. The change does not affect student days. The change puts the calendar in line with the 20-year-old calendar law 115C-84.2. Testing and Accountability and Auxiliary Services Director Jacob Lail said the necessary change was discovered when he met with the Finance Department. The problem is that beginning teachers only accrue a bit more than 11 days of annual leave a year, and do not have 12 annual leave days they can take. Therefore, November 25th is being switched from annual leave to a workday.
Community Eligibility Provision
The board voted unanimously to offer free breakfast and lunch for all students in the 2026-27 school year. Alexander County Schools had begun to charge middle and high school students this past year for the meal due to low reimbursements from the federal government based on low HS and MS participation. Due to some improvements in operational efficiency in Child Nutrition and an increase in student participation this year, the district will now be able to offer free meals for all ages.
Meantime, the Summer Meal program offering seven breakfasts and seven lunches is off to a rousing start. Dr. Griffin reported that in the first week, the district provided 12,320 meals. The breakfasts and lunches are available for pickup at Alexander Central High School, West Alexander Middle School, and Stony Point Elementary each Monday afternoon.
Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Bill Griffin addressed a group of students and parents at the board meeting about staffing for the Alexander Central High School Band. Due to staff realignment, the assistant band director will now be split between the high school and Ellendale and Wittenburg.
He told the group that “Nobody is taking your band program.” He went on to add, “We believe in your band. We believe in our arts program.”
The concern about the program came after a Band Booster social media post that said assistant director Jennifer Weddington’s position was being eliminated. The post was followed by a weekend meeting at a local church where people voiced their concerns.
Griffin says that other districts in the region do not employ two full-time band directors and with finances the way they are at the state and local level, he and the board are forced to make some unpopular choices.
“Hard decisions have to be made when you’re navigating these pieces to figure out what this looks like,” said Griffin.
Griffin says other subjects including high school math, Spanish, CTE and social studies were affected based on enrollments adding those departments will also have to make changes in the upcoming year.
Griffin continued saying the district must “operate within our means. When I took this job, we were one year away from being bankrupt. We ended up repositioning several positions. We’ve not cut a single job this year so we can stay afloat this year,” he said.
While Griffin’s explanation was not one the band students and parents wanted to hear, the group seemed to accept the rationale.
Griffin concluded by reminding listeners that the state of North Carolina has not had a budget in two years, and that educators hope the legislature approves a new budget that will help public education before the end of the month.
Kelly Brantley
Brantley earned her administrative degree from Gardner Webb University in 2023 and was formerly a biology teacher at Lake Norman High School. Before Gardner Webb, she attended Appalachian State University. Brantley joined ACHS in July 2023 and has worked in education since 2017.
Don Robinette